"Gause, Brian" wrote:
quoted 3 lines This is plainly not true. Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his 9th> This is plainly not true. Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his 9th
> Symphony...does this mean we have to be deaf for it to sound as good? Does
> the 9th Symphony then sound "terrible" to those of us that can hear?
Have you ever heard of "perfect pitch" ? "Perfect pitch" means that you can naturally
tell exactly what pitch a tone or group of tones is/are. Beethoven most certainly had
this ability, otherwise there's no way he could have composed any worthwhile music
when he was deaf. A friend of mine has perfect pitch and it's pretty unnerving. She
can tell you what pitch any type of sound, musical or "unmusical", is instantaneously
and not just approximately, but very precisely as in 440Hz vs. 435Hz. Couple
Beethoven's perfect pitch with decades of compositional experience (and his
exceptional talent) and that's how he could compose music which didn't sound terrible
to us. Plus he was composing in a relatively simple tonal style with finite
possibilities regarding progression, voicings, etc. which become second nature with
years of experience. Believe me, even someone with little experience in composition
can write music that sounds decent without laying a hand on a piano if they have a
decent ear and a good grasp on theory and harmony.
Andrei
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